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Reaffirmation

Colin G. Campbell. Chairman and President.

Eighty years ago this month, in the holiday season of 1926, two farseeing men, philanthropist
John D. Rockefeller Jr. and the Reverend Dr. W. A. R. Goodwin, presented to the
nation the gift of Colonial Williamsburg. Their purpose, Mr. Rockefeller would
say, was "to restore Williamsburg, so far as it may be possible, to what it was
in the old colonial days and to make it a great centre for historical study and
inspiration." As we approach the holidays this year, I am grateful to the more
than 290,000 men and women who have reaffirmed that purpose through their
participation in the recently completed comprehensive campaign, and who have
demonstrated their confidence in our commitment to adaptation and innovation.
My colleagues and I admire the individuals, corporations, and institutions that
have so generously joined in the evolving stewardship of this irreplaceable
colonial capital.

We publicly announced the
comprehensive campaign, the foundation's first, during our seventy-fifth
anniversary celebration in 2001. By September 2006, the total of gifts, grants,
and pledges surpassed the $500 million goal by $10 million. An impressive team
effort brought about this wonderful conclusion.

There was, as there usually is in such ambitious undertakings, a
time of preparation. From the mid-1990s to 2001, we planned and developed a set
of objectives, and increased the goal as we considered the extent of the
foundation's needs and the responsiveness of our supporters. We gained
confidence from the silent-phase generosity of $256 million, about half our
goal. This strong start provided the momentum, when we took the campaign
public, that brought us to the five-year finish line.

Under the dedicated leadership of a committee co-chaired by senior
trustees Estelle "Nicki" Tanner and Bob Wilson, the campaign's theme, "People,
Place, and Purpose," clearly had broad appeal. During the past five years,
more than thirty donors helped with contributions of $1 million or more in the
overall effort to enhance staff resources; maintain, preserve, and augment
buildings and facilities; and advance educational endeavors here in
Williamsburg and across the nation.

With contributed funds, we endowed positions and underwrote
training, built and supported the Bruton Heights School Education Center,
established building and garden preservation endowments, reconstructed the
Peyton Randolph kitchen and outbuildings, restored Bassett Hall, constructed
Great Hopes Plantation, and built a stables complex.

Donors reaffirmed faith in the foundation's educational advances
by supporting outreach programs, as well as innovative Historic Area
activities, the coach and livestock program, research, and museum exhibitions
and acquisitions—items important for relating the continuity of the
British-American experience. Gifts supported the Nation Builders program,
citizenship initiatives in secondary schools and on the Internet, and
relocation of the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum.

Unrestricted gifts—funds meant to be employed where they are
most needed—are being allocated to support necessary institutional
priorities, as reflected in our annual plans. Those gifts, I should add, are
welcome reaffirmations of our mission.

The campaign's success is a milestone in Colonial Williamsburg's
history. It brings new friends into the fold and reaffirms valued
relationships. I thank one and all for your generosity in pursuit of the
realization of Colonial Williamsburg's guiding idea: that the future may learn
from the past.